Growth of single crystals of PbBr2 in silica gel

The conditions for the gel growth of PbBr2 were studied in this paper. The controlled reaction between the Pb(NO3)2 and KBr solutions by the diffusion process in a sodium metasilicate gel was used for growing PbBr2 crystals. The following results were obtained: (1) Transparent PbBr2 single crystals were obtained in a high-acidic gel. (2) Sizable single crystals of PbBr2 were also grown in the liquid placed over a gel because the gel barrier had the task of slowing down the diffusion rate of reacting ions.